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Who runs the most at U.S. Open?

NEW YORK – Caroline Wozniacki can run. The 10th seed from Denmark is taking part in November's New York City Marathon and relied heavily on her legs to upset fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova in the U.S. Open's

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Who runs the most at U.S. Open?

Douglas Robson, USA TODAY Sports 8:10 a.m. CDT September 2, 2014

Novak Djokovic (SRB) returns a shot during his match against Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) on day eight of the 2014 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.(Photo: Jerry Lai -USA TODAY Sports)

The 10th seed from Denmark is taking part in November's New York City Marathon and relied heavily on her legs to upset fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova in the U.S. Open's fourth round Sunday.

But in her matches, does she log more yardage than anybody else?

For the first time, that data are being captured and processed by IBM, the tournament's technology partner for everything from mobile apps to real-time data, videos and match insights.

Wozniacki, a counterpuncher, ranks in the bottom half at 71 feet per point.

But three players run more: Angelique Kerber, Jelena Jankovic and Agnieszka Radwanska, who ranked last in feet per point and lost in the second round.

It will surprise no astute or intuitive observer that indefatigable baseliner David Ferrer of Spain had run more on average per point than any of his counterparts in the top 10 through three rounds in New York — at 109 feet, twice as much than some.

"His livelihood are his legs," says 90th-ranked American Tim Smyczek.

The most efficient? Roger Federer, the ballet-footed, first-strike Swiss who has taken to heart advice from coach Stefan Edberg this season by venturing more to the net. The No. 2 seed clocked in at 48 feet per point.

No big surprises on the women's side, either. Power player Serena Williams, who had unleashed a WTA-tour leading 360 aces heading into the U.S. Open, had covered the least ground — 44 feet per point and a mere 1.58 miles — than any top player.

"It confirms something that is quite obvious," says Williams' coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who runs an academy outside of Paris. "Players that play shorter rallies, that have a putaway shot, that serve well and that cut the angles run less than the others."

IBM uses information captured by high-speed cameras set up on several courts for electronic line-calling and then extracts and correlates it with the statistical data to enhance the fan experience and provide additional insights, said John Kent, IBM technology manager, who oversees all data collection and technology for the U.S. Open.

The sample size cited here is small: three rounds for the top 10 men and women. It should be considered indicative rather than definitive.

Still, it raised eyebrows that Kei Nishikori, the 5-10 Japanese player not known for his offensive game, ranked second behind Federer in movement efficiency.

That might have a lot to do with court position, said Patrick McEnroe, who comments for ESPN and heads up the USTA's player development program. "It also tells you something about his ability to hurt you off both wings," McEnroe said of the No. 10 seed.

Novak Djokovic, known for his grinding defensive prowess, is also near the top for road-less-traveled. He said he was working on ending points quicker.

"Obviously I know that I have a good defense game and I can get the balls, an extra ball back and make the opponent play extra shot," the top seed said Monday after dispatching No. 11 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in straight sets. "But why spend so much energy if I can actually execute my shots in the first two, three shots of the point better."

Several coaches, players and observers said even without big weapons, players that take the ball early and crowd the court like Simona Halep, Eugenie Bouchard and Nishikori are bound to move less.

Many also wanted to dig further into the data.

Roger Rasheed, the coach of Grigor Dimitrov, said he would like to see the first few rounds compared to latter stages of the tournament, when opponents are presumably tougher and matches more taxing.

He'd also like a breakdown of movement in the points themselves.

"The biggest thing for me is how much of that is explosive and how much is passive type of movement throughout a rally," he said.

In general, women run further on average per point, due to the fact that they cannot win a lot of free points with their serve or finish points as easily from the baseline.

However, they don't necessarily run less, since the men play best-of-five sets versus best-of-three for the women.

Andy Murray's high total of 4.8 miles was more than the top woman, Kerber, who covered 3.3 miles.

Williams, who advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal of 2014, was happy to hear she was more of a sprinter than a marathoner.

"I'm not at an age where I want to be running a lot," the 32-year-old American said Monday after beating fourth-round opponent Kaia Kanepi of Estonia. "I don't need to be running 20 miles. I can and I have and I'm able to run really fast, as we all know. I can run down any ball on the court. But, hey, if I don't have to move as much, that's fine with me, too."

No such luck for Wozniacki.

Through four rounds, she had covered slightly more than four miles. She'll have to run more than six times that distance when she lines up for the New York City marathon on Nov. 2.

Flavia Pennetta of Italy returns a shot against Casey Dellacqua of Australia during their 2014 US Open women's singles match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. (Photo: Timothy A. Clary AFP/Getty Images)